[🎐] a thousand ceaseless dreams

vii. heiyaoshi

Heiyaoshi definitely couldn't fall asleep when he was inside a pitch-black carriage and strange noises kept creeping inside. He was shivering and holding Yùtù close to his chest as he laid down on the cushioned seats in the carriage, his eyes darting around anxiously. He kept one hand wrapped firmly around his hand fan, which was a special metal one with sharp blades at the end of each stick. He practiced fan dancing all his life, but he never figured that he'd turn it into a defense tactic.

So many thoughts were engulfing him. What if they got attacked? What if the carriage started moving away on its own? What if Yùtù got stressed out? Were the soldiers comfortable sleeping on the ground? Was his father okay, both mentally and physically? Was Cornelius okay?

His father was fast asleep on the other seat on the opposite side of the carriage. The moonlight filtered just enough through the curtains to give Heiyaoshi an idea of what he was looking at, but it was dark nonetheless — dark and quiet and cramped.

He even kept his glasses on since his heart would race every time he took them off; he needed to see everything clearly to know if something was happening. All of his senses needed to be at work, or else something could slip right past and attack him when his back was turned.

Heiyaoshi could barely hold back a squeal when he heard a voice. He immediately relaxed when he recognized the general's timbre, but tensed up again at the words being spoken.

"Go back to sleep, Huaqing."

"Just look! They're literally right there! I swear I'm not making things up this time!"

A slight pause. "Stay here."

"You sure, General? I don't know — they look kinda weird to me. What if they're yin spirits?"

Heiyaoshi's heart pounded so hard against his chest that he pressed his hands over it to muffle the sound — it was pounding so loudly he was sure his father could hear it.

"Stay here. If anything happens, don't come looking for me, and wake everyone else up."

"Y-Yes sir!"

Footsteps.

Cornelius was gone.

Heiyaoshi buried his nose in Yùtù's fluffy coat. He squeezed his eyes shut and trembled as he clutched her close to his face as tightly as he could without hurting her, and tears pricked the corners of his eyes as the wind seemed to whisper like a choir in a long, empty hallway. A hole formed in his chest and his thoughts began to spin. His breaths quickened.

The panic didn't subside for a few minutes and Heiyaoshi was beginning to feel lightheaded. He'd never prayed so hard before for Cornelius to come back, for the gods to show mercy and protect them, for them all to make it out alive and well so he could go home perfectly intact with his father and the soldiers and Cornelius.

But his prayers were caught up in the wind.

The carriage gave a sudden jolt as the horse pulling it let out a startling neigh. Heiyaoshi snapped up as Bàba's eyes slowly pried open. The prince scrambled over to the little window in the front that allowed communication with the driver and yanked open the curtain — but he wasn't able to take a look at what was going on when the carriage gave another jolt, darted forward, and slammed against something. The wood snapped and wooden chips shot through the air, the prince and the emperor were thrown on the other side of the carriage as it toppled over and slammed against the ground, Heiyaoshi's shoulder hitting the hard wooden wall and the impact rippling throughout his whole body.

Heiyaoshi's hand instinctively snapped to the fan around his waist as he pushed himself onto his knees after his father. His heart was pounding even harder now, sweat building up on his palms, a tight knot forming in his chest as the white noise cleared and the sound of blades clashing met his ears.